What does `lorem ipsum dolor' mean?

What does `lorem ipsum dolor' mean?
`Lorem ipsum dolor' is the first part of a nonsense paragraph sometimes used to demonstrate a font. It has been well established that if you write anything as a sample, people will spend more time reading the copy than looking at the font. The ``gibberish'' below is sufficiently like ordinary text to demonstrate a font but doesn't distract the reader.

Hopefully. Rick Pali submits the following from Before and After Magazine, Volume 4 Number 2.:
[quote]
After telling everyone that Lorem ipsum, the nonsensical text that comes with PageMaker, only looks like Latin but actually says nothing, I heard from Richard McClintock, publication director at the Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, who had enlightening news:

"Lorem ipsum is latin, slightly jumbled, the remnants of a passage from Cicero's _de Finibus_ 1.10.32, which begins 'Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit...' [There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain.]. [de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, written in 45 BC, is a treatise on the theory of ethics very popular in the Renaisance.]

"What I find remarkable is that this text has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since some printed in the 1500s took a galley of type and scambled it to make a type specemin book; it has survived not only four centuries of letter-by-letter resetting but even the leap into electronic typesetting, essentially unchanged except for an occational 'ing' or 'y' thrown in. It's ironic that when the then-understood Latin was scrambled, it became as incomprehensible as Greek; the phrase 'it's Greek to me' and 'greeking' have common semantic roots!"
[unquote]

One Example of Lorem Ipsum Dolor Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetaur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum Et harumd und lookum like Greek to me, dereud facilis est er expedit distinct. Nam liber te conscient to factor tum poen legum odioque civiuda. Et tam neque pecun modut est neque nonor et imper ned libidig met, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed ut labore et dolore magna aliquam makes one wonder who would ever read this stuff? Bis nostrud exercitation ullam mmodo consequet. Duis aute in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. At vver eos et accusam dignissum qui blandit est praesent luptatum delenit aigue excepteur sint occae. Et harumd dereud facilis est er expedit distinct. Nam libe soluta nobis eligent optio est congue nihil impedit doming id Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, set eiusmod tempor incidunt et labore et dolore magna aliquam. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerc. Irure dolor in reprehend incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse molestaie cillum. Tia non ob ea soluad incommod quae egen ium improb fugiend. Officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum Et harumd dereud facilis est er expedit distinct. Nam liber te conscient to factor tum poen legum odioque civiuda et tam. Neque pecun modut est neque nonor et imper ned libidig met, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed ut labore et dolore magna aliquam is nostrud exercitation ullam mmodo consequet. Duis aute in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. At vver eos et accusam dignissum qui blandit est praesent. Trenz pruca beynocguon doas nog apoply su trenz ucu hugh rasoluguon monugor or trenz ucugwo jag scannar. Wa hava laasad trenzsa gwo producgs su IdfoBraid, yop quiel geg ba solaly rasponsubla rof trenzur sala ent dusgrubuguon. Offoctivo immoriatoly, hawrgasi pwicos asi sirucor.Thas sirutciun applios tyu thuso itoms ghuso pwicos gosi sirucor in mixent gosi sirucor ic mixent ples cak ontisi sowios uf Zerm hawr rwivos. Unte af phen neige pheings atoot Prexs eis phat eit sakem eit vory gast te Plok peish ba useing phen roxas. Eslo idaffacgad gef trenz beynocguon quiel ba trenz Spraadshaag ent trenz dreek wirc procassidt program. Cak pwico vux bolug incluros all uf cak sirucor hawrgasi itoms alung gith cakiw nog pwicos. Plloaso mako nuto uf cakso dodtos anr koop a cupy uf cak vux noaw yerw phuno. Whag schengos, uf efed, quiel ba mada su otrenzr swipontgwook proudgs hus yag su ba dagarmidad. Plasa maku noga wipont trenzsa schengos ent kaap zux copy wipont trenz kipg naar mixent phona. Cak pwico siructiun ruos nust apoply tyu cak UCU sisulutiun munityuw uw cak UCU-TGU jot scannow. Trens roxas eis ti Plokeing quert loppe eis yop prexs. Piy opher hawers, eit yaggles orn ti sumbloat alohe plok. Su havo loasor cakso tgu pwuructs tyu InfuBwain, ghu gill nug bo suloly sispunsiblo fuw cakiw salo anr ristwibutiun. Hei muk neme eis loppe. Treas em wankeing ont sime ploked peish rof phen sumbloat syug si phat phey gavet peish ta paat ein pheeir sumbloats. Aslu unaffoctor gef cak siructiun gill bo cak spiarshoot anet cak GurGanglo gur pwucossing pwutwam. Ghat dodtos, ig pany, gill bo maro tyu ucakw suftgasi pwuructs hod yot tyubo rotowminor. Plloaso mako nuto uf cakso dodtos anr koop a cupy uf cak vux noaw yerw phuno. Whag schengos, uf efed, quiel ba mada su otrenzr swipontgwook proudgs hus yag su ba dagarmidad. Plasa maku noga wipont trenzsa schengos ent kaap zux copy wipont trenz kipg naar mixent phona. Cak pwico siructiun ruos nust apoply tyu cak UCU sisulutiun munityuw uw cak UCU-TGU jot scannow. Trens roxas eis ti Plokeing quert loppe eis yop prexs. Piy opher hawers, eit yaggles orn ti sumbloat alohe plok. Su havo loasor cakso tgu pwuructs tyu.

[This version was found on CompuServe. It differs from other versions I have seen in print, increasingly so as you go along. It almost looks computer-generated, doesn't it?]

Shopping carts & ecommerce software solutions guide

Shopping carts & ecommerce software solutions guide

Choosing the best shopping cart solution for your launch into ecommerce is critical to the success of your online business. If you're wanting to learn more about this sometimes confusing world, this guide will explain the points you should consider before purchasing a cart.

If you're currently in the market for software or services and would like our recommendations, read our shopping cart software and services review.

What is a shopping cart?

In a basic definition, it's a series of scripts that keep track of items a visitor picks to buy from your site until they proceed to the "checkout".

A popular misconception is that shopping carts handle the whole financial transaction, but they only really act as a front end which passes information via a secure connection (another service) to a payment gateway - a separate service altogether.

The payment gateway service then channels the requests and transfers throughout relevant financial networks, including the Internet merchant account with your bank. It then sends back confirmation or denial back to the shopping cart software. For further information on the "back-end" aspects of ecommerce; read our guide to payment gateways and merchant accounts.

The good news is that there are literally hundreds of shopping cart packages available. The bad news is the same as the good. Sometimes, too many choices make it very difficult to make a decision - especially when all companies claim to have the superior product. After having worked with or examined over a hundred different shopping cart applications over the years, I hope this article may make your life just a little bit easier!

Free or premium shopping carts?

It's very important before you begin reviewing software and services to be to be very specific in what you actually want the cart to be able to do. It may be that you really don't require all the bells and buzzers offered by high end packages - if this is the case, then a good package will cost around the $US250 - $300 mark; with some excellent, and in my opinion, crucial features included at the high end of that range. Some companies offer free shopping carts, but bear in mind that nothing in this world is truly free - read the fine print.

Be careful not to limit yourself either - you may only want limited features initially, but what about in the future? Give yourself room to grow as having to change software mid-stream to a totally different package can be a real time-sucker.

Free ecommerce solutions

One of the best free ecommerce solutions around is Paypal, which integrates basic shopping cart functions with a payment gateway and merchant account - funds are paid to you via check or through direct deposit. Paypal is an excellent way to begin in ecommerce and is very widely accepted around the world.

You only pay a small percentage of each sale and there are no monthly fees or setup costs, plus you receive free fraud protection - no chargeback fees to worry about. Paypal also offers web developers a wide variety of easy to use tools to assist with rapid implementation.

What other features do shopping carts have?

Shopping cart software has come a long way in recent years, and many packages are so advanced that they are in effect entire store fronts and can actually be your entire web site. Some integrated elements of benefit to your online business you may wish to consider include:

Suggest sell/cross selling functions

Just as in the physical world, impulse buying via the Internet is quite common. Some shopping carts will suggest another product to complement a customers current selection. If offered at a discount rate, this strategy proves quite successful.

Quantity discounts/coupons

Many shopping carts now allow for the calculation of discount rates based on the number of units a customer wishes to purchase. Coupon functions allow you to issue special offers as part of your marketing campaigns. Usually, prospective clients are given special codes that are matched against a particular item or overall discount rate. I strongly recommend using a shopping cart that supports coupons; it's such a powerful sales strategy.

Autoresponder and newsletter functions

If you follow up all your clients with regular email offers, you may want to consider shopping cart software that has integrated autoresponder and newsletter capabilities - this will streamline your operations and can be used for maintaining other contact lists as well. Why buy two pieces of software when you can get them rolled into one?

Affiliate modules

One of the most effective, low cost ways to advertise your product is through an affiliate program. Your outlay is minimal if you only pay on performance; i.e. sales generated. An affiliate module can handle the signup process, provide statistics, streamline communications and keep track of payments to be made to affiliates.

Other features commonly incorporated into carts include inventory tracking, sales tax calculation, stationery creation/management, reviews and wish lists.

There's a number of questions you'll want to ask yourself when compiling a shopping cart wish list:

What kind of shopping cart does my hosting service support?

Shopping cart scripts are written in many different coding formats - PERL, PHP, ASP just to name a few. Be sure to check with your host before purchasing a program. If you opt for a remotely hosted service (explained in more detail below), then it won't matter what programming language the cart software is written in.

What is my budget?

It's easy to blow your budget on a turbo-charged shopping cart only to find that there were a number of other critical items you didn't factor in - like a payment gateway, or the fact that the cart software may be so complex that you need to hire somebody else to assist in implementation!

What kind of delivery mechanisms will I require?

If you are selling hard goods that need shipping, choice of cart is a little easier as this is a standard function. Many carts also offer customers the ability to calculate different shipping options and to get live quotes back from shipping companies.

If you are trading in soft goods such as software and want to make delivery available online immediately, you'll need to carefully compare carts.

As an example, some shopping carts that are capable of delivering goods online redirect customers to a static download page after a successful transaction. This isn't a good idea as the customer (and his/her friends) are able to return to the page to download again and again. A better equipped shopping cart will only provide customers with a temporary URL, that will be unique to that customer and may only be available for a few hours after purchase before it is deleted.

Another strategy employed by some carts for soft goods online delivery is to use a static URL for downloading, but scripting is implemented to ensure the visitor to the page has come via the shopping cart after a successful transaction has occurred.

Yet another soft goods delivery means used by carts is that the software is attached to an email sent to the customer after a successful transaction. This may be suitable for very small files, but I don't think many ISP's would appreciate you sending 20 megabyte attachments to a customers inbox - in fact, it would not be possible in many instances.

Where will my business be in 6 months time?

Does the package allow for scalability? While you may not require bells and buzzers now, as your business grows you may find that your needs change. The better shopping carts are in a modular format which allow for scalability with minimum downtime. Be sure to check the prices of modules you may need in the future. It isn't uncommon for companies is to offer the base model for next to nothing and then to charge like wounded bulls for any upgrades.

Is the cart software compatible with my payment gateway?

There are dozens of different payment gateways which plug into various shopping cart packages - but perhaps not yours! Before purchasing your cart, also review gateway services supported by the software (and also make sure that the payment gateway is compatible with the Internet merchant account you have with your bank). It can be a bit of a challenge getting the cart you want to talk to the gateway service you want and also to your bank! Read our guide to payment gateways and merchant accounts.

What kind of payments are supported by the cart?

Credit card transactions are now a normal part of our online world. If your shopping cart software does not support credit card transactions or if you have not enabled credit card processing, you're in trouble - you may as well just close up shop!

There are still some customers who will refuse to use a credit card over the Internet, so you will need to be able to offer other forms of payment - e.g. money orders, echecks etc.

What about disaster planning?

A good shopping cart application will have excellent support for backing up files and allowing for export into a variety of formats. Flexible exporting functions will also be of value in the future should you need to change carts and wish to import existing data into a new application.

What level of support will I need and receive?

All shopping cart providers will tell you that their software is simple to install and configure. Few will be actually correct in making that statement. If you don't have the technical expertise to configure your shopping cart, get quotes from the company or a third party contractor to undertake this work for you.

Test out the support system by sending a query to the sales department - if they don't respond quickly this is usually a good indicator that after sales support will be even worse!

Also, read the fine print before parting with your hard earned cash - you may find that technical support will be charged out per incident.

Some shopping cart software companies also offer user forums as part of their service. This is an excellent bonus. If you are having problems with setting up your scripts, no doubt someone else has experienced the same issues and may be willing to help you out.

Be sure to review the company's "bug" policy; i.e. if a error in the software is fixed and an updated version is released, will you be entitled to recieve that upgrade or patch at no cost.

While I am all for supporting the solo programmers, a shopping cart is so crucial that it may not be wise to purchase a product from a one-man operation as customer support may not be efficient.

Remotely or locally hosted shopping cart?

Some shopping cart programs can be purchased as stand alone programs or as pay per month services hosted on another companies' server. Remotely hosted options usually allow for extensive customization of pages to fit in with your sites look and feel.

Remote hosting advantages

Fast implementation, secure connection supplied, monitoring of service and usually many other features are offered as part of the service. Because the cart is actually hosted on another server, you can also save on bandwidth charges - especially if your products are soft goods and delivered online.

Some remotely hosted shopping carts are in effect total marketing solutions, containing options to run affiliate programs and the ability to send sequential pre-defined messages to clients and leads. Some of these services are excellent for people 'testing the water' as they also include gateway services and even an Internet merchant account!

If you are looking for features without needing to spending thousands of dollars up front, remotely hosted may be the way to go. Plan on spending at least US$60 per month for these kinds of services. Compare prices carefully - I have seen one company charge US$200 a month for the same service provided by another for $US59 per month. Remember, this added recurring expense will need to be taken into account when establishing a price level for your products and services.

Remote hosting disadvantages

What happens if the company goes belly up overnight? Remote hosting also tends to give you less control over how cart pages display. If you are going to use a remotely hosted service, check the company history carefully. Some operators have also been known to 'harvest' your client databases for spamming purposes.

View some reviews of remotely hosted shopping carts.

Local hosting advantages

Total control over the software, no ongoing fees.

Local hosting disadvantages

Time spent in installation, configuration and maintenance, greater initial outlay, requires SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to be enabled on your site which usually incurs an extra charge per month.

View some reviews of locally hosted shopping carts

As you can see, there is a lot to consider before purchasing shopping cart software or services. It is very important to remember that the shopping cart is only one part of your ecommerce arsenal. Without an effective payment gateway and Internet merchant account (sometimes these are combined), the cart is useless.

Don't rush your decision to purchase based on marketing hype - the future of your business is at stake!

Source: http://www.tamingthebeast.net

Which Font Should I Use for My Web Page? Tips on Choosing Fonts for Your Website

It's true that preferences for visual appearance vary from person to person, so that one man's meat is another man's poison. However, where web pages are concerned, the range of fonts that webmasters can select for their pages are not as wide as you may think. Even if you were to have a million fonts installed on your computer, you are mostly limited by what your website users have installed on their computers. This article briefly discusses some of the things you should consider when selecting a font face for your website.
Why You May Not Be Able to Use Your Favourite Font

When you create a web page and specify a particular typeface (loosely called "font" here) for that page, the font is not embedded in your web page. All your web editor does is to put a reference to the font into the page. For example, if you create a web page that uses the Comic Sans font, then a modern web editor like Dreamweaver might insert the following line into the style sheet of your web page:
font-family: "Comic Sans" ;

The Comic Sans font itself is not embedded in the web page. If your visitor does not have that particular font, his/her browser will use some other font, even if it does not suit the content and design of your page.

This is the reason why most webmasters choose commonly available typefaces and avoid esoteric ones that only few people have.
Importance of Using Lists of Fonts

When you specify a font for your web page, it is important that you do not just specify a single font, even if it is a font that you think that most people have, like the ubiquitous "Arial" font. If your visitor uses a different type of computer, such as a non-Windows computer, even fonts like Arial may not be available. Cascading Style Sheets, which is the underlying technology used by a web page to control its appearance, allow for web designers to specify a list of fonts to be used on a particular page. If the first font in that list is not available, the browser will try to use the next font specified, and so on.

For example, the fonts used in all of thesitewizard.com's articles, including the one you are reading, are specified as follows:
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif ;

This means that if a computer has the Arial font installed, a browser is to use that font to render the pages on the site. Otherwise, it will try to use the Helvetica font. If the latter is also not available, then it should just use any sans serif font it can find.

(For those not familiar with the terminology, "serif" fonts are those that have little hook-like lines at the ends of the main strokes of each character. For example, the Times New Roman font, found in Windows system, is a serif font. "Sans serif" fonts are those without the small hook-like strokes. Well known sans serif typefaces include Arial and Helvetica.)

I chose these three items to place in my list of fonts to use for thesitewizard.com's pages because they are somewhat similar to each other. Or rather, Arial, which is a sort of poor man's version of Helvetica, looks almost the same as Helvetica. This way, I can be sure that if a particular computer only has Helvetica and not Arial, my page will still look more or less the way I intended, and things that I carefully aligned will not go out of alignment which may happen if a fatter or thinner typeface is used.

However, if the user does not have either of these fonts, then all bets are off. The browser can use any other sans serif font it finds on the system. This probably means that on such a system, the appearance of my web page will differ somewhat from my intended design.
Most Commonly-Used Lists of Fonts

In general, if you want to create a web page that looks mostly the same no matter what sort of computer your visitors use, it's best to think of three groups of fonts.

1.
Sans Serif Fonts

Many websites tend to use one of the following series of fonts mainly because most people find the sans serif fonts easier to read on a computer monitor.
*
Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif

As mentioned earlier, this is the combination I use in most of my sites, including thesitewizard.com, thefreecountry.com and howtohaven.com. Arial and Helvetica look very similar to each other, and to the average casual reader, may even be indistinguishable. Between the systems that have the Arial font and those with the Helvetica font, I think this combination basically covers most, if not all, commercially sold operating systems.

Some people prefer the combination "Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif", so that if the Helvetica typeface is available, it will be used in preference to Arial. These people probably have Helvetica installed on their systems and find it preferable to Arial.
*
Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif

Verdana looks somewhat like Arial, but is larger, wider and spaces the characters further apart from each other. In theory, this is supposed to improve legibility, but in practice, some people find that it decreases the speed at which they can read a block of text since the bigger spaces between words make it harder for them to visually scan the text.

Verdana is installed by default only on Windows systems, so if a person uses another system that does not have Verdana installed, the next font in the list will probably be used.
2.
Serif Fonts

Although not many sites use serif fonts, since they seem to be harder to read on a computer screen, if such fonts are used, the combination most commonly listed is:
font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif ;

3.
Monospace Fonts

Monospace fonts, where the width of every single character is the same regardless of whether the character is a wide one like "w" or a thin one like "i", are commonly used on the web for source code listings. For example, most of the code listings on thesitewizard.com employ the following list:
font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;

In fact, if you look carefully at the list in the box above, you will see that it is rendered using that very series. If you are reading this on Windows, and have not removed the Courier New font, it will be displayed in that typeface.

Introduction to "robots.txt"

Introduction to "robots.txt"

There is a hidden, relentless force that permeates the web and its billions of web pages and files, unbeknownst to the majority of us sentient beings. I'm talking about search engine crawlers and robots here. Every day hundreds of them go out and scour the web, whether it's Google trying to index the entire web, or a spam bot collecting any email address it could find for less than honorable intentions. As site owners, what little control we have over what robots are allowed to do when they visit our sites exist in a magical little file called "robots.txt."

"Robots.txt" is a regular text file that through its name, has special meaning to the majority of "honorable" robots on the web. By defining a few rules in this text file, you can instruct robots to not crawl and index certain files, directories within your site, or at all. For example, you may not want Google to crawl the /images directory of your site, as it's both meaningless to you and a waste of your site's bandwidth. "Robots.txt" lets you tell Google just that.

Creating your "robots.txt" file

So lets get moving. Create a regular text file called "robots.txt", and make sure it's named exactly that. This file must be uploaded to the root accessible directory of your site, not a subdirectory (ie: http://www.mysite.com but NOT http://www.mysite.com/stuff/). It is only by following the above two rules will search engines interpret the instructions contained in the file. Deviate from this, and "robots.txt" becomes nothing more than a regular text file, like Cinderella after midnight.

Now that you know what to name your text file and where to upload it, you need to learn what to actually put in it to send commands off to search engines that follow this protocol (formally the "Robots Exclusion Protocol"). The format is simple enough for most intents and purposes: a USERAGENT line to identify the crawler in question followed by one or more DISALLOW: lines to disallow it from crawling certain parts of your site.

1) Here's a basic "robots.txt":

User-agent: *
Disallow: /

With the above declared, all robots (indicated by "*") are instructed to not index any of your pages (indicated by "/"). Most likely not what you want, but you get the idea.

2) Lets get a little more discriminatory now. While every webmaster loves Google, you may not want Google's Image bot crawling your site's images and making them searchable online, if just to save bandwidth. The below declaration will do the trick:

User-agent: Googlebot-Image
Disallow: /

3) The following disallows all search engines and robots from crawling select directories and pages:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /cgi-bin/
Disallow: /privatedir/
Disallow: /tutorials/blank.htm

4) You can conditionally target multiple robots in "robots.txt." Take a look at the below:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /
User-agent: Googlebot
Disallow: /cgi-bin/
Disallow: /privatedir/

This is interesting- here we declare that crawlers in general should not crawl any parts of our site, EXCEPT for Google, which is allowed to crawl the entire site apart from /cgi-bin/ and /privatedir/. So the rules of specificity apply, not inheritance.

5) There is a way to use Disallow: to essentially turn it into "Allow all", and that is by not entering a value after the semicolon(:):

User-agent: *
Disallow: /
User-agent: ia_archiver
Disallow:

Here I'm saying all crawlers should be prohibited from crawling our site, except for Alexa, which is allowed.

6) Finally, some crawlers now support an additional field called "Allow:", most notably, Google. As its name implies, "Allow:" lets you explicitly dictate what files/folders can be crawled. However, this field is currently not part of the "robots.txt" protocol, so my recommendation is to use it only if absolutely needed, as it might confuse some less intelligent crawlers.

Per Google's FAQs for webmasters, the below is the preferred way to disallow all crawlers from your site EXCEPT Google:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /
User-agent: Googlebot
Allow: /